The enacted communication action context of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods and its implications for intergroup communication

Zhang, Chi, Motta, Wallis and Georgiou, Myria ORCID: 0000-0001-8771-8469 (2018) The enacted communication action context of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods and its implications for intergroup communication. In: Kim, Yong-Chan, Matsaganis, Matthew, Wilkin, Holley and Jung, Joo-Young, (eds.) The Communication Ecology of 21st Century Urban Communities. Verlag Peter Lang.

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Abstract

With new waves of immigration and shifting distribution of ethnic groups in urban and suburban areas, recent decades have witnessed a rapid transformation in the demographic composition of many neighborhoods. The experience of living in residential communities is increasingly defined by ethnic mixing and the encounter of difference. However, while ethnic diversity has been analyzed as a structural variable, little has been done to articulate how the context of diversity is created and experienced, and what features of this context shape intergroup communication. Building on the Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT), a framework which provides a theoretical linkage between features of the built environment and communicative processes, we develop the concept of enacted community context, defined as the outcome of the interaction between features of the built environment and the way they are used, appropriated, and interpreted by ethnic groups in the process of navigating social life in the shared locale. Through a comparative analysis of two multiethnic neighborhoods—one in London and one in Los Angeles, this chapter distills three dimensions of the enacted community context—spatial morphology, ethnic inscription, and spatial practice–that conditions different possibilities of intergroup communication. Our main contribution to CIT is to provide a model that brings the spatial to the forefront within the CIT theoretical framework, and to clarify dimensions of the community context that can be deployed to analyze different spatial conditions influencing intergroup communication in an ethnically diverse area, as well as to guide efforts towards creating alternative modes of relating and understanding the Other.

Item Type:	Book Section
Official URL:	https://www.peterlang.com/
Additional Information:	© 2018 Peter Lang
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2017 14:30
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2024 17:37
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/79387

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